We want everyone to respect our work, but do we show ourselves respect in our own words? When I communicate with my clients, I try to avoid expressions that would underestimate my work.

For example, I’ve heard designers say, “I’ll play more with this page layout and will send you the update…” Perhaps we want to show that this work is fun to us, but for your clients it may seem like you’re not treating it seriously. It would be better to use, “I’ll work on it…” instead.

Another example would be saying, “It’ll take me only 5 minutes.” Of course, it’s just a common phrase we use in everyday language, but don’t use it in communication with your clients. It’s better to simply tell your client the estimated time of arrival without being too specific.